The Blood Rose
by Forgotten Sanity
Summary: Darren Shan had finally returned to Vampire Mountain only to be summoned by a mysterious messanger to a place not on any maps. There he meets the Blood Rose.
1. The Messanger Of The Rose

I'm Darren Shan. I look like a normal 18 year old, but really, I'm a fair bit older than that. I don't age like normal people. That's because I'm not normal. I'm a half-vampire…..

I was home finally! Home in Vampire Mountain. Stood in the hall Of Kledon Lurt. So why didn't I feel relaxed? Well maybe that had something to do with the 6feet tall figure stood right infront of me.

With eyes, ever glowing a ghost-like shade of silver, the tall cloaked figure stood before me. He did not seem to care that I was a Vampire Prince, simply meeting my gaze with his. I couldn't tell what he was or where he was from until he spoke

"Darren Shan, my lady has requested that you make yourself available to go to The Temple Of Wings"

Temple Of Wings? Where in the name of darkness was that?! I did not quite dare to ask the shrouded stranger this. I merely nodded "How am I supposed to get there?" I inquired, fixing my gaze upon him so as to seem confident. I wasn't really. I was quite nervous.

"I will take you there. All my people have the power of teleportation" the messenger replied with a note of pride in his deep voice. Teleportation? There was no way that would happen! Even Evanna couldn't do that, as far as I was aware. But, knowing the Wyrd Sister, she might be a master of it. I don't dare call her a witch, she might kill me for it. We are friends, but she is easily angered by that simple 5-letter word.

"Sure" I mumbled, trying not to show my concern but I was never a good actor. Mr Crepsley always used to see right through my acts. Mr Crepsley….I hadn't thought about him for some time. I missed the fiercely proud vampire friend of mine. And with a black hatred I remember why he had died. At the hands of Steven Leopard. My worst enemy. Yet once he had been my best friend. A lifetime ago….

"Are you ready…sire" the last word had a hint of sarcasm in it which I chose to ignore. I was not in the mood for a fight right then, unlike most of my vamparic friends. I nodded and he rested one hand on each of my shoulders. I closed my eyes, not wanting to know what would happen next. The other male mumbled something and a felt a sharp pull at the base of my back, like I was being dragged and pushed through the air…yet it didn't feel like I was really moving at all. Like I was sinking into mud, the air seemed to ooze around me. Then…all was still. I felt my feet hit a hard floor, stone I assumed. My eyes were shut until I got a tap on my shoulder along with the words "We are here. Welcome to the Temple of Wings, master Shan. You are in the lands of The Blood Rose, now"


	2. Are There Such Things As Harpies?

I opened my eyes and looked around. Instantly, my jaw dropped and the huge temple before me. It looked a lot like an Egyptian temple, but without the carvings of the Gods. Instead, vast monuments to hunting birds were scattered methodically around the stone courtyard I was stood in. Tall trees grew here and there, littered with fruits of one sort or another. It was so peaceful….

"Darren Shan, come with me. My lady awaits you" the messenger's deep voice informed me. I lifted my gaze to meet his. I know I should have kept my thoughts to myself, but I had to ask "What are you people?"

He chuckled and removed his cloak. Before me stood a tall and muscular man with a tattoo of a feather on his right cheek. At his back was a huge pair of white wings. I stared, unable to believe what I was seeing.

"My people, Darren Shan, are The Sky Guardians. We are harpies"

Harpies? I had heard that name before, in some book or another about Greek mythology. But harpies were not real! Well, obviously they were, one was staring right at me, but how could this be true?

The man laughed lightly, seeing the shock upon my face "My lady is waiting" he said "If she waits much longer, she'll have my hide for it"

Inpatient leader, I thought, let the woman wait. Well, it was not my fault I had been dragged all the way to….where was I?

"Where am I?" I inquired, trying my best not to sound unsure of myself and a little uneasy. But, like I said before, I never was much of an actor.

"You are in Sangre Ver Rise" came a soft, musical voice from behind me. I span on my heel and came face to face with the a tall young woman with dazzling golden eyes. She had a smile playing upon her soft lips as she looked at me through the curtain of crimson curls covering her right eye. She too had wings at her back, hers the colour of blood "Welcome, Darren Shan, to my home"

This was starting to unnerve me slightly. How and why did everyone here know my name?!

"Who are you?" I inquired, receiving a stifled chuckled from the messanger.

The crimson stranger laughed, her voice ringing out like a fine silver bell. Why was I being poetic, thinking this all of a sudden?!

"I am Roselin Vartella, the Lady of this temple" she responded, eyes lighting up. Could she really be... "I am The Blood Rose" Ah, so she was, I thought with a smirk.

"Why did you bring me here?" I found myself asking, the words coming out of my mouth unbidden by my mind. Well, there were things my troubled self needed to understand about all of this. Why had I been chosen to come here, out of all vampires? Why me?

"Because, Darren, I.... I need your help" she confessed, seeming troubled to admit this simplest of facts. perhaps she was too proud to admit such things most of the time. Not not, she had said it to me. This made me wonder....

"The vampaneze have taken it upon themselves to hunt my people don. I need the vampire's help to stop them from destroying my entire race. Only you can make them help me, Darren. You are their Prince!"

"What makes you think I will help you?" I inquired, giving myself time to think about all of this. Why should I help I race I hadn't heard of until a few moments ago?

"Because if you don't, the world as you know it will cease to exist"


	3. A Harpie's Work

My eyes must have widened at this as my heart starte beating faster. I studied the womans face; it had not been a threat...it had been a promise! The world as I know it end? But...

"How will this happen?" I quizzed "Why?" I needed to know all sorts of things before i could get the vampires to help Roselin. I was their Prince, it was my duty to find things out.... Well, that and I wanted to speak longer with the beatiful harpie.

Roselin sighed sadly, her eyes losing a hint of their sparkle "Harpies control the skies. We are, in a way, the element of air personified. We make the winds blow, the clouds move. We make it rain and the sun shine through the clouds. Without us, you could be left in eternal darkness. Nobody else could do our work" she explained with a note of rpide in her muffled voice. I felt my stomache churn at this. There had to be a solution should the worst happen!

"Could a witch not do it?" I inquired in what I hoped was a casual tone.

"Never" the elegant woman replied "They are sworn never to meddle in the affairs of harpies unless they wish for us to unleash our powers upon this world. Not even Desmond Tiny will interfere with us. We are one of the few creatures on thei earth not of his creation. He has no links to us and so...we have more freedom than most races"

I shuddered at the mention of that name. Mr Tiny. Mr Destiny.... The little man with the heart-shaped watch had a hold over me that I couldn't escape from. I hated to admit it; but Mr Tiny scared me. Even now, knowing what I learned that night...

"So, you must help us" Her voice snapped me back to reality and away from my haunted thoughts. I thought for only a moment before nodding.

"I'll put it to the council. Let the other Princes have a say in whether or not we go to war with the vampaneze" I told her.

She laughed triumphantly, her eyes glimmering. Such enchanting eyes......

"We are safe here for now. Darren, you must stay a few days with us" How could I argue when she had such a lovely smile upon her delicate features?

"Alright then Roselin" I agreed with a bright smile of my own.

"It's Rose" she insisted "That's how I got the name Blood Rose. Roselin Vartella in our native language means Rose of blood"

Ah, that explained it! I had wondered how such a delicate and refined figure had earned such a dark name. But perhaps she wasn't all she seemed....

"Come, Darren! Let me show you around The Temple"


	4. A Love Forgotten

As Rose guided me around the glorious temple I could barely take it all in. Huge alebaster columns engraved with images of fierce birds of prey, tapestries depicting harpies in various battles and doing various jobs, a wonderful crystal-clear pool of water, a fountain of marbel and so much more that I couldn't possibly name everything.It was amazing.

The Blood Rose looked back over her shoulder and smiled as her gaze met mine "What do you think of my home?" she asked

"It's amazing" I sighed contently. It truly was. I had never been in such a wonderful place before. Vampire Mountain looked rather pathetic compared to The Temple Of Wings.

"I'm glad you like it here. It's been my people's work for many centuries to build a sanctuary for harpies where we don't have to hide what we are from the rest of the world. Well, how can they find us when we are not on a map?" She seemed pleased about this.

We stopped and sat by the fountain on an intricately made seat in the rock. I glanced over at her and couldn't hide a smile. She was beautiful beyond belief. But, with great guilt, I thought of Debbie. How could I have forgotten her?

That was a problem i had been thinking of lately. I found myself grudgingly falling out of love with the human. She was very pretty and smart but...well, some times she made me feel inferior and stupid. She made me feel like being a vampire wasn't the right way of life.... And that was what I could not stand.

And yet...she had always been there for me. Put her life on the line for my people. Loved me.. How could I ever explain that I merely wanted to be her friend. It would sound to lame for words!

"Darren" Rose mumbled softly "What's wrong? You look confused...."

I looked over once more with a soft sigh "I was thinking of home, that's all. problems that I need to take care of..." It wasn't the best of reasons, but it would do for the time being. Until she asked again...

"We all have problems, Darren" she nodded "It is better to talk about them though. You don't have to if you don't want to..."

And yet, for some odd reason, I wanted to tell her. I couldn't, and yet...I really wanted to talk to her about it. She seemed to have gotten under my skin in the nicest way possible.

"Another time and another problem, Rose. This is too close to my heart" I attempted an explanation.

It worked. She nodded sympatheticly "I understand"

I smiled again, feeling comforted by those golden eyes watching over me.


	5. Children of the Night

The tall young woman smiled at me once more, lighting up her golden orbs "Darren.... I think perhaps that there is something about my people that you need to understand"

I nodded, eager to learn more about the Sky Guardians that I had grown so fond of.

"At the beginning of time, we were vampires" she said softly

What? But, how?! Mr Tiny had creaed vampires, so then how could he not have created harpies? This made no sense, but I let her continue unquestioned.

"Desmond did not create us, we evolved on our own. Eventually we grew wings, although our love of blood remained, as well as our fear of the sunlight. Mr Tiny came to us one night and made my people an offer; he would modify us so the sunlight was as good as darkness to us, as long as we took to the skies and let him recreate our former selves and name them vampires. We agreed, fools that we were" Rose paused, sighing in dispair "What was to be our release became our inprisonment. You see; we can not live near most other races, they would kill us because we can't hide what we are. And so, Sangre Ver Rise was found by the harpies then and The Temple Of Wings built" Her pride seemed to return at this. I had to smile softly along with her, it sounded as if they had gotten the better of Mr Tiny in the end, somthing which only happened once in a blue moon.

"Rose..." I began, wanting to ask something too personal. No, I couln't ask that! Or could I?

"Darren, if you want to know how many similarities there are between our races, seeing as we were once the same; there are 3. We both drink blood, although we don't need it as often as vampires. We both can flit, the reason why we developed our skill for teleporting. And of course, our men can never sire children"

Well, there was my question answered. She must have been a mind reader or something.

"Wait, only your men cant have children? You mean that your women can!" I asked, startled

"Exactly. Personally, I've got a daughter living on the other side of the Ver Rise, but that is only because our men dont like seeing the youth sired by wizards; the only people that have ever accepted us"

"Vampires would accept you, if you werent looking to have children that is" I commented, hoping she did not see what I was hinting at. I wanted to be with the amazing harpie, but it could never be....

She gave me an odd smile "Harpies would be mroe than happy with vampires, if only it could happen"

What did she mean by that?


End file.
